Organization: Aegis
by AvedlyTres
Summary: As a shinigami, he knew the world was filled with two types of souls, those of the living and those of the dead, now hired to a new organization, Kurosaki Ichigo is about to take a step into the world of fairy tales, the supernatural and myth.


_So, I'm not a hundred percent sure about some of this story but this first chapter should provide you with a taste of what I have in mind. It does say that it's Ichigo and Rukia but I'm not sure just how mushy/fluffy it will actually be._

**_Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Bleach (It's characters) or anything copyrighted._**

* * *

Toe curling, skin crawling, groan invoking … pain. That's what he caused, that was his job. He experienced death, he dealt death, he was death, a god of death …

Shinigami

With his head hung, the death god listened to the wails of the despaired mother. Clothed in all black, with a large, half-crescent shaped sword across his back, a rather young looking man stood near the back wall.

The lights in the room where he stood, were dimmed, and a woman, her face a mask of sorrow, sat beside a bed holding the now flaccid arm of small boy. Kurosaki Ichigo was not new to scenes such as these, in fact they seemed to consume his life, assaulting him even in his dreams.

"My son," the woman's tousled hair was falling from its bun, as she shook her head in disbelief at the truth that lay right before her eyes, "Why?"

"Mother."

Ichigo extended an arm, stopping steps of the small boy that stood by his side. The boy lying on the bed was the mirror image of the one that now looked up at Ichigo. The only difference was the red ribbon tied around the upright boy's head, covering his eyes.

"She can't see you anyway," Ichigo continued. "She can't see us, hear us or discern us. Her senses are mute to us in all ways."

The small spirit boy still pulled away from Ichigo, going to stand by his mother's side. His eyes trailed over her trembling form. "Sir," he said to Ichigo, his voice cracking with the emotions he kept in check. "I can't say goodbye?"

"You can, but she won't be able to hear you," the shinigami replied, going to kneel by the side of the boy. Ichigo's brown eyes met the red-veiled eyes full of melancholy and fear. "Say you're goodbye, I will grant you this much before you pass on."

With a nod, and slight trepidation, the boy scooted closer to his mother. He took to his tiptoes and held his face inches from his mother's ear. Something was whispered from his lips and he pulled back, forcing a face of determination and turned to look back at Ichigo.

"Alright, I'm ready," he said.

"Very well," Ichigo's voice was low as he reached out a hand. The soul reaper extended his long fingers and pressed his fingertips to the forehead of the boy. With a tender motion, the pads of Ichigo's fingertips caressed down the small face, closing the boy's eyes as he pulled the red ribbon from his face.

The young face before him looked to be asleep and Ichigo straightened, returning to his full height as the boy before him seemed to blur and fade from existence. "I'm sorry," Ichigo said, staring down at the ribbon in his hand. The black inking of the boy's name imprinted on the tail of the ribbon, seemed to burn into his mind and even as the shinigami shoved the ribbon into the folds of his robes, he still felt the accusation from the small boy.

Accusation because Ichigo had been his reaper of death, the one that passed him onto the afterlife and the one that was the catalyst of pain.

Ichigo went to the open window of the room, jumping up to crouch on the ledge momentarily before leaping out into the night and disappearing into the dark.

--

--

Heavy footfalls and Ichigo made his way back to his home. In the clearing in the woods, the small shrine awaited him. A wooden, square platform had been built and around it was a circle shaped clearing of grass. The only route inward was a small dirt path that had been made to extend out right before the statue in the middle of the platform. The tall figure was carved out of marble and a raised tablet sat at the figure's feet, meant to hold offerings. The full moon above cast shadows on the ground and highlighted the orange of Ichigo's hair as he stood before the statue.

He extended his hand, letting his fingers trail the cold, stone of the angel made of marble. It was his shrine, his only tie to the real world and his home. The angel's face was uplifted to the sky, his eyes closed and his face a mask of tranquil thought. About the waist, drapes of cloth had been carved into the marble and the angel's chest remained bare, the muscles having been exquisitely carved in great accuracy.

"I'm back," he muttered to the silence of the night. Heaving a great sigh, Ichigo pressed his palm flat against the angel's chest and felt the familiar feeling of numbness overtake his body. To anyone watching from nearby, it would have looked as if the shinigami had merely disappeared, fading from existence into the statue, like genie into a lamp.

Ichigo awoke as if from a daze and his eyes opened. He stood in a circular room, ten foot in diameter and completely white in color. The only light came from a series of round lights set in the floor around the circumference of the room. The ceiling extended upwards, seemingly forever, fading into an endless blackness.

The weary sense of a long day finally swept over Ichigo as he stepped to the center of the room, pulling his sword from his back and setting it one the floor beside him as he sat down, crossed legged on the floor. In a matter of what seemed to be seconds, he was fast asleep, his body still upright in his sitting position.

--

--

As if running on an internal clock, Ichigo's eyes opened, knowing that it was morning. No sunlight shone through the nonexistent windows and the room looked the same as it had during evening, yesterday. Ichigo was as he had been the night before, sitting in the middle of the floor, his legs crossed and his hands in his lap. "Any minute now," he said in an offhand manner to himself, getting to his feet, grabbing his weapon and strapping it onto his back.

His muscles tensed, the sudden movement of the ground beneath his feet didn't sway the soul reaper. Like an elevator, the floor rose, carrying him upward. The air rushing past his hair finally stilled as the floor he stood upon, came to a stop, matching up with that of a larger room.

Ichigo knew this spacious room well, and didn't even have to look up as he heard a voice say, "Welcome Kurosaki."

"Hey," was his simple answer. The grey of the room was lit by a single row of lights set in the ceiling overhead and running the length of the rectangular room. Ichigo reached inside his robe, pulling out a handful of ribbons, varying in color from red, to black and combinations in-between. He walked forward, stepping from the white stone onto the wooden floor to the long desk now before him. His fingers opened and the material in his hands fell, landing in silence on the black polished surface of the table.

"Good job Kurosaki," the person seated at the desk said. "I see you were successful in collecting all your souls."

"Yes Amagai, I was," Ichigo stepped back, awaiting his new list of orders as he stared up at the ornately carved double doors in the wall behind Amagai..

This room was one of multitudes worldwide that served as an entrance for soul reapers into the world of the afterlife. This particular gate was guarded by Amagai, who may have appeared to be an easy going guy but was actually a rather powerful soul reaper.

Amagai Shusuke was Ichigo's boss, so to speak. He assigned Ichigo the souls to be gathered, and collected the ribbons afterwards. Not that Ichigo really cared, but this man was his main connection to the underworld and was the one that helped decide when souls were bound for the afterlife. Now that he was standing closer to the man, Ichigo noticed Amagai looked strained. His black hair was rather unkempt in appearance and there were bags under his brown eyes.

Pages of a thick, high quality paper lay about on the desk, seemingly scattered about with no sense of organization. Pausing, Amagai looked down at the particular paper in his hands, "Here," he said, holding it out to Ichigo.

Document in hand, Ichigo read the print before him, "What is this?" It wasn't his usual list of names and locations of souls to reap, in fact, it was nothing like Amagai had ever given him before. "A job request?"

"Yes," Amagai nodded, "A friend of mine is in need of a shinigami and asked that I try and find one for him, so I thought I'd extend this off to you."

"For what?"

"Ichigo, you know that shinigami deal with souls, souls of regular humans, right?"

"Yes," Ichigo said, unsure of where this conversation was going. "We, as shinigami open the gateway to allow souls to pass into the underworld."

"Exactly but you only deal with what we know to be normal souls. On the other side of the coin though, what do you suppose happens to souls do not wish to pass on and reside peacefully in their second life?"

"Escape from the underworld? That seems highly implausible-"

"Ah, it may seem that way but it still occurs and what do you suppose happens to such souls as these?"

Ichigo didn't like this idea, he didn't like it one bit, "I suppose nothing good can result from this right?"

"Exactly, these escaped souls become what we refer to as demons."

"Demons? Like ones from fairy tales and myths? Is there even such a thing that truly exists?"

Amagai seemed amused with Ichigo's string of inquiry but held up a hand, indicating that he wanted to speak. "Yes," he said, "There are multitudes of other types of mystical creatures and demons are just one of these kinds. You did not think that shinigami were the only supernatural beings in the world did you?"

"Eh …"

"Demons, or demonized souls are bent on revenge, or what they see as revenge. Their vendetta is against all those that are living, the ones that do not suffer as they do. It's someone's job to deal with the demons and that is what this particular friend of mine does. After careful consideration, I concluded that you would be best suited for this type of job. After all, I know that reaping normal souls is not always easy for you."

"No, I've grown use to it now."

"So, you don't want this new job?"

Ichigo's hands balled into fists, "Demons are evil, right?"

"Well, there is always the argument of it depending of the situation, but most the time, yes, demons are evil and require sealing, or slaying or stopping of some kind," Amagai said, leaning forward on the desk and pressing the fingertips of his hands together. "If you do not want to switch professions, then you can stay as you are, a shinigami, helping to maintain the balance between life and death."

"No," Ichigo looked down again at the page in his hands, "I'll do this new job."

--

--

With a second glance down, Ichigo looked at the business card held in his hand and then looked back up at the building he now stood before. There was no mistaking it, this was the correct address. Flashing neon lights, large signs with crude sayings, darkened windows and a location in the seediest part of town, yes this was the site for Ichigo's new job. "I am at the right place right?" Ichigo stood on the other side of the dark alley, trying to look nonchalant and unsuspicious, not that anyone could actually see him. "Is this a joke?"

Deciding to take a 'what the hell,' approach to the whole matter Ichigo crossed the road, spotting the door inside.

"But really a strip club?" Ichigo muttered, "Of all the places to host a business …"

Glad that no one could see him, Ichigo pushed open the door, trying to ignore the large sign reading, "Girls, girls, girls," across the glass. Inside was dark and multi colored lights flashed about the vast space. A stage occupied a majority of the front of the room and rounded tables were set up about a walkway extending off the stage. A bar could also be seen built into one of the walls, stools set up in a line alongside it.

Unlike normal souls, Shinigami could be felt, just not seen. He wasn't solid per say, but his presence could still be sensed and he didn't particularly enjoy someone passing through his body. So Ichigo actually had to worry about running into, or rather through someone, who then would not be able to see him. These types of encounters never had good results.

The shinigami wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for, but he for sure could tell what he wasn't looking for and there seemed to be a lot of it in this club. He kept his attentions alert, making sure to keep to the less crowded areas on the floor. The strong reek of alcohol permeated his nose and a cloud of smoke seemed to perpetuate itself near the glitter sprayed ceiling.

"Well, what do we have here, a pervert perhaps?" a female voice said behind Ichigo, making him jump. Although he knew who ever it was probably wasn't even talking to him, he still turned around.

The voice belonged to a woman, a rather tall, and well-endowed in the chest area, woman. Her black hair was pulled back into two long pigtails and about her head a white ribbon was tied. She didn't look like one of the dancers, mainly due to her wearing covering clothes, a long-sleeved red shirt, and a pair of white pants.

Ichigo looked around, but couldn't see whom the woman had been talking to. "Hey, are you going to answer me?" the woman said in annoyance, strangely she was looking straight at him.

Again, Ichigo glanced about. "Hey shinigami, I am talking to you," she said, a smirk on her face.

Ichigo really did jump this time, "Did you say _shinigami_? You mean you can see me?"

She nodded, "You must be Kurosaki Ichigo then, our newest member. Nice to meet you, I'm Shiba Kuukaku."

"Uh, pleasure, but, well …"

"How can I see you?" she supplied. She began to walk towards the bar, motioning for Ichigo to follow. It seemed very apparent that Kuukaku herself, wasn't a spirit because others around her could see her and many talked to her, some she even punched, rather violently, out of her way.

"Kurosaki," Kuukaku pushed open a side door beside the bar and Ichigo followed in afterwards. "I am what you could call a messenger, I communicate between the living world and the afterlife."

"Right," Ichigo said to hide his confusion. So she must be one of these other "mystical beings" that Amagai had been mentioning. The whole concept of supernatural people other than shinigami, was still surprising him and he wondered why the heck no one ever felt the need to tell him about all this before!

"So, I'm a spirit, just like you, well in a way."

They had stepped into, what appeared to be an office of sorts, a very messy and cluttered office. There were bookcases lining all the walls, two couches, a desk filled with stacks of papers and two filing cabinets, their drawers gaping open and pages spilling out. The only light came from a porcelain lamp set precariously a top a stack of books, the amber lamp shade creating the illusion of the light's yellow glow.

"So, I guess I should be taking you to the actual entrance of our business," Kuukaku whacked the corner of her desk. Right before Ichigo's feet, a circle appeared on the ground and a hole opened up, revealing a spiral staircase leading down below the floor.

"You're so adorable when you're surprised," Kuukaku grinned. No hesitation and she took to the stairs, not even glancing back to see if Ichigo was following her. With less grace, Ichigo trailed behind, trying to see the ground below as he craned his neck over the side railing.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked, careful to watch his step as the stairway continued downward.

"To the headquarters of our organization of course," Kuukaku said. "You didn't think that the strip club was the actual headquarters did you?"

"N-no."

"Or perhaps you hoped?"

"NO!" Ichigo's voice echoed off the walls.

"Oh it's so fun messing with the new people," Ichigo could see Kuukaku laughing her head off. "But," she said, "The club is only our cover for the entrance and the actual HQ is underground."

"So will everyone here be able to see me?"

"Right, almost forgot," Kuukaku reached into her pocket, pulling out a ring and paused momentarily to hand it to Ichigo. "Put that on," she said proceeding to descend he stairs.

"A pinky ring?" Ichigo said, slipping the ring onto his finger.

"Hmm, it only fits on your pinky? Your fingers are bigger than I had thought, oh well that will work for now."

"Why do I need this?"

"As you were asking earlier, about whether or not everyone would be able to see you, the answer no. With this ring though, all people will be able to see you but this also includes humans too."

"Humans will be able to see me now?"

"Yep." The floor finally met the bottom of the stairs, and Kuukaku stepped onto the white, polished floor, her heels clicking as she continued forward. "But if you take off the ring, you'll be back to normal," Kuukaku resumed her talk from earlier. "Well, as normal as a shinigami can be, so remember to take it off before you go and reap souls."

Her voice seemed to be magnified in the empty room, and the whole place made Ichigo feel like a specimen under a microscope. In the centermost point of a room was a large tiled mosaic of a rose, spanning ten feet in diameter. On the wall opposite the bottom of the stairs, were two doors, both closed at the moment and placed between the doors, was a large wooden desk. In fact, the desk was the only piece of furniture in the room and behind it sat a wide-eyed girl who was busily writing away in a thick, leather bound book.

"Ririn," Kuukaku came to a stop before the desk, "I've brought the shinigami."

The girl raised her blond-haired head, blinking her bright blue eyes a few times before smiling, "Ichi-saki right?"

Ichigo's silent question of whether or not she would be able to see him was answered as she made direct eye contact with him as she looked up. So the ring must really work.

"You already have a nickname for him?" Kuukaku asked and Ichigo flinched at the realization of 'Ichi-saki' referring to himself.

"Yes, the other sidehe* and I decided on his name this morning," Ririn disclosed. With a soft thump, the thick book was closed and on the desk beyond it Ririn pressed the button of oval-shaped silver device. "The shinigami is here," she said into the speaker of the mechanism. Not waiting for a reply she jumped off the stool she had been sitting upon and walked out from behind the desk.

Ichigo had to stop himself from saying the word that automatically popped into his head as soon as he saw the girl. _Short!_ This child not only had a rather young looking face, but she was small. What was a young girl like this doing working for someone who killed demons, whose business was based under a _strip club_?

"I know you're probably thinking that Ririn is somehow out of place," Kuukaku said, slapping Ichigo on the back, "But I can assure you, she's a lot older than she looks."

Reaching out and placing a hand a top Ririn's hair, Kuukaku ruffled the blond girl's hair, "Ririn is a sidehe, an elf or faerie if you will, originating from Ireland."

"Nice to meet you Ichi-saki," Ririn shook Ichigo's thumb in greeting. The small girl wore a long-sleeved white dress, cinched about the middle by a black belt.

"How can both of you touch me?" Ichigo stared in wonder at the hold the girl had on his thumb and glanced down to his ring.

"Well, we are both spirits," Ririn said, poking Ichigo in the arm with her free hand, "You'll be surprised how many people here will be able to not only see you, but touch you also."

"Plus the ring allows you to be seen, heard, felt, smelt and I'm sure even tasted," Kuukaku raised her eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

"This just keeps getting more and more strange," Ichigo's thumb was finally released. "Are you the one that hired me?" he asked of Ririn.

"No silly," she giggled. "I'm merely in charge of paper work and record keeping and stamping things and stapling things and shredding things and eating cake..."

"Um, ok, the who called my old boss?" Ichigo asked of Kuukaku.

"That probably would have been the ogma*," Kuukaku said, looking to Ririn for confirmation.

"Hmm, yeah it probably was Urahara," Ririn clapped her hands together, "Don't worry, you're about to meet him."

"Ogma, what is an ogma?"

"Oh right," Ririn frowned, "Ichi-saki doesn't know much about us does he?"

Kuukaku nodded in agreement, "It's supposed to be everyone's job to teach him." She looked back to Ichigo, "Well, an ogma is a scholar, I know that doesn't sound like an other worldly type being, but since he's immortal, he's had years and years to collect his information. He knows what seems to be almost everything, yet still insists that his knowledge is limited."

"He is able to see and interact with spirits," Ririn added. "He's even created some of our weapons and equipment we use to hunt demons."

"Ogmas are also from Ireland," Kuukaku said, "and our Ogma is a bit of a pervert. In fact, he's the one that suggested that we hide our business under a strip club."

Ichigo tensed, someone was nearby, he reached up, clenching the hilt of his sword and was about to warn Kuukaku and Ririn when a man seemed to pop out of nowhere. "What the-"

"Ah yes the new shinigami," the blond haired man said, bringing his face mere inches from Ichigo's and looking at him with a rapt attention. "Kurosaki Ichigo, approximately one-hundred, sixty two years and eighty six days old. One hundred and seventy five centimeters tall, weighs sixty one kilograms, country of origin is Japan, blood type A, hair orange, eyes brown, occupation shinigami for eighty seven years and counting."

All this he said in one breath and all very quickly. If Ichigo hadn't been freaked out by the sudden appearance of this man, he would've been shocked by all the information that he had just heard. "H-how do you know all this?" he finally managed to say.

"Ah, that information is easy to find out," the man pulled back, waving a hand in the direction of the others, "Hey Kuukaku, Ririn."

"Yo Urahara, as you very well know, this is Kurosaki Ichigo, Ichigo meet Urahara," Kuukaku said. "He's the one that extended the job offer to you."

"Nice to meet you," Ichigo's words were directed towards Urahara.

"I'm glad to see you've decided to take my offer. I'll have to send Amagai a gift basket, or rather a fruit basket, I forget, do shinigami eat?" Urahara yawned as he rubbed the back of his neck and the light flashed upon the pin on his chest. The pin was in the shape of a shield and upon it was a red rose, a copy in miniscule of the one upon the floor.

"Er yes-" Ichigo turned his eyes from the pin.

"Well never mind that now, because at this moment it's my job to get you filled in on our organization now." Urahara sat down on the floor, adjusting the long, dark green robe he wore, "So where to even begin?"

"Just might as well start with what we do here," Ririn, without the slightest hesitation, sat down next to Urahara, looking up as if it were story time. "Kuuka and I will help you."

"Well, I should be getting back to the club," Kuukaku said pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Really?" Ririn started to pout.

"Nu-uh you little elf, no trying to charm me to stay, I'm leaving before you get a chance," Kuukaku headed back to the staircase, waving over her shoulder, "See you later, Urahara, Kurosaki."

"Thanks for everything," Ichigo called to her retreating back. For some reason, he felt nervous with by the thought of being left alone with this strange man and little girl that turned out to be an elf. Looking down at the other two once more, Ichigo heaved and internal sigh and sat down on the floor opposite them.

Urahara cleared his throat, "So, this organization, we are called Aegis after the ultimate shield that was wielded by the Greek goddess Athena. We are the last and ultimate defense between humans and demons. We mainly deal with demons or other paranormal creatures that threaten to reveal us. It is our job to protect the innocent souls and to keep all the information of supernatural life from the general public. It is better this way, after all beings, such as myself, Ririn and you, we are a minority and I have found that people such as us are not easily accepted.

"Our organization consists of mythological creatures, deities, spirits and all other sorts of mystical beings from all over the world. Yeah it sounds fairytaleish and somewhat stupid but there's seriously no way to easily describe the things that work here.

"You will receive your mission from Ririn most the time, or whoever else is at the front desk. De-briefing is done by me or another level four agent or then off you go to go and save man kind and bring peace back once again and that about sums it up," Urahara concluded. "All right, any questions?"

Ichigo considered himself to be rather intelligent but a large, sudden influx of information, on-things-that-he-didn't-even-know-existed-until-a-few-days-ago and anyone would be bound to get a headache like he was currently undergoing. "Could I possibly get that again, slowly?" he asked finally.

"Hmm seems I need to add simple minded onto your personal file," Urahara said in an offhand manner.

"I am not simple minded!"

"So, we are called Aegis," he said to Ichigo, moving the conversation right along.

"And we slay demons," Ririn added.

"Our organization is made up of supernatural creatures," Urahara continued.

"You get missions from the front desk."

"Then debriefing is done and lastly you go out and kick some butt."

"Well actually, lastly, lastly," Ririn held up a hand, "You return here, check in, fill out a wee stack of paper work and then turn in that to me and you are all set."

And still, the second time it was all as confusing as the first. "So I'm going to kill demons?"

"Yes, some of the time," Urahara nodded.

"And do you kill demons?"

"Nah, I mostly do office work and negotiations of sorts."

"And what about-"

"Okay, question session is over," Urahara startled everyone as he bounded to his feet. "Let's go have tea, oh wait that's later, let's do a tour first."

"Tour?" Ichigo felt that things were moving along just a bit too fast, actually way too fast.

"Of our organization of course," the blond man was already striding to the door on the right side of the desk, not even bothering to wait for Ichigo. "You didn't think we were merely a strip club and this one room did you?"

"No but I didn't think this new job was going to involve a strip club in anyway," Ichigo mumbled, taking off after Urahara and following him through the door. Ririn waved goodbye as the door shut behind the two men.

The door had opened up into a hallway of sorts. The walls and ceiling were both a pastel blue color and the floor was made of square tiles, some the pattern of pepper and others an all dark, grey color, both alternating and forming a checkerboard design. Into the walls, was built a continuous line of glass, about three feet in height and lined with a black sill. The glass of the long window was reflective, leaving Ichigo unable to see inside.

Side hallways branched off, but Urahara continued forward, sticking to the wider and what seemed to be, the main hall. Black doors were set in the walls, some with nameplates, some without, but all were closed. The only people, well what appeared to be people, Ichigo couldn't be sure, were small children, walking from door to door and up and down the hall. They were similar to Ririn in stature and their youthful appearances. The girls wore the exact same outfit and the boys had a variation, on what Ichigo was now guessing was their uniform, wearing white pants and long sleeved shirts instead of the one piece dress.

"Don't mind the sidehe," Urahara said, stepping nimbly out of the way of a red haired elf. "They're great little worker bees but some of them have a nasty temper, in fact a large majority of the people that work here have pretty bad tempers. Although, it could just be me ..."

Ichigo let the man muse, wondering silently if he, himself was supposed to be contributing to this conversation in anyway.

"Nah I don't see a reason for anyone to ever get mad at me," Urahara shrugged, "Must be them, but back to work,so most of these doors are offices," Urahara said, continuing to walk along at a rather fast pace as he pointed randomly at doors on either side of the hall. "Nyx*, Okhwangsangje*," he moved onto the next set of doors, "Jengu*, Yosei*, Raijin*, furies* they're a nasty bunch stay away from them, uh let's see who else, ah this here is the dís, next door is the oracles and they are freaky."

Ichigo didn't know half the words that came from Urahara's mouth but as the man finally came to a pause in his speech Ichigo felt it was time to ask, "What are oracles?"

"Ah oracles, future seers from Greece. Don't ever get them angry because then they make fake prophecies about you dying soon and blah, blah, blah, basically you end up freaking out and expecting death around almost every corner. Ah not fun, not fun."

Ichigo had a feeling that the man was speaking from experience, but made a mental note of it anyway. Urahara continued walking, turning suddenly down a side hall. He came to a rather sudden stop, Ichigo almost crashing into him in surprise. "Here we are," the blond man spread his arms wide and Ichigo looked about the hall. As far as the shinigami could tell, this hall looked like the one they had just been in, but apparently this was Urahara's destination.

"This is the hall where you'll be working," Urahara said. "And you will be working for me directly."

"Is there something special about this hall?"

The blond haired man made a tsk, tsk motion with his hand, "Well, I work in a special branch of the Aegis organization. We deal with cases that involve stronger demons, or groups of demons. It's kinda like we have projects that take longer to complete."

"Ok, so I'm going to be part of your team?"

"Right and the other thing that is unique about the people I command is that everyone has another agent they are paired with," he winked, "in other words a partner."

"Then I will have a partner also?"

"Yes but you don't get to choose. You will be paired with the same partner that the last shinigami had."

Ichigo looked back at Urahara at the mention of another shinigami, "What happened to the other soul reaper, the one before me?"

For the first time, since Ichigo had seen him, an almost dark look overtook Urahara's face. "The last shinigami was killed."

"By a demon?"

There was hesitation in his demeanor and avoidance in his eyes. "Don't worry," Urahara said in a reassuring manner, "Pursuing demons is dangerous but we don't send you into this hunt completely unprepared. I don't like to brag, but there's no one in this organization that's easy to kill off."

Urahara's steps brought him to the end of the hall where he was met with a closed set of double doors. Facing the door, with his arms behind his back, Urahara asked, "With this information in mind, will you still take the job?"

Still take this job, a job where he could potentially be killed (again) and be sent to the underworld? "Yes, I still want to do this."

"As I thought," Urahara said with a smile. "Then let's call a meeting shall we and I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew."

--

--

Before Ichigo had known about the existence of other supernatural beings, he would've naively assumed that he was sitting at a table with people, merely being of all different nationalities …

Now though, as he stared about at the faces looking back at him, Ichigo felt as if a sense of wariness was in order. Not only could they see him, they could also touch him, hear him and the like.

They were a rather intimidating bunch, even though half of them were female and some even looked similar in size to grade school children. Ichigo counted, there were six people in total, not counting Urahara and himself. And all six of them wore black. It wasn't just black t-shirts and shorts, no it was full style, black colored, professional uniforms.

The men wore pressed slacks, a black button down dress shirt, covered by a black, notch-style jacket. Their shoes, black of course, were highly polished dress shoes and the whole of the outfit was finished off by a skinny style black tie, silver cuff links and a grey, black striped handkerchief.

The ladies were also dressed in dark clothing. Their outfit, consisting of a black, high-collared dress shirt, covered by a long, black jacket, reaching down to just past the hips, was tightened about the stomach with a thick, black belt. Underneath the jacket was a dark grey, pleated skirt, the bottom hem at mid thigh level, and a pair of knee high, black boots were upon their feet. Like the men, they wore black ties.

And the one accessory they all sported, on the left side of their chests, was the same brooch that he had seen earlier, identical to Urahara's.

"Yo, Urahara," a rather gruff looking and large man said. He sat across the rectangular table, lounging back in his seat, his feet up on the table. Even dressed in the same clothing as everyone else, he still stood out due to his substantial size and rather 'wild, animalistic' aura. His face was scarred, a patch covered one of his eyes and his hairstyle was … unique to say the least. It looked as if, through heavy use of hair gel, he had somehow sculpted his black hair into spikes. "What am I supposed to be doing here?" even his voice was rough. Silver flashed and Ichigo tensed, watching in apprehension as a knife came out of the man's pocket. "Relax nancy boy," he said, in reference to Ichigo's noticeable wariness, "I ain't gonna hurt you, at least not yet."

"Kenpachi," a slender green haired woman said in a loud whisper, defeating the point of attempting to whisper in the first place. "We're here to greet the shinigami, the new replacement, remember?"

"Oh he's here is he? Is it this punk?," Kenpachi pointed the tip of his knife at Ichigo. "Let me fight him!"

The person sitting beside Ichigo elbowed him lightly, "I see you got your ring, otherwise Kenpachi wouldn't be able to see you," he said. "Kenpachi is the only one here that can't see spiritual beings."

"Should I be on guard?" Ichigo asked, reaching for the hilt of his sword that lay on the ground beside him.

"No, there's a no fighting rule in place here," Ichigo's source of advice said as he pointed to Urahara, "He may not look like it, but he can be scary at times so Kenpachi makes sure to keep his violence to after work hours."

"Ah, we are all here," Urahara said, going to stand at the head of the table. "Well almost, I know two of our pairs are out on mission but let's just begin anyway."

"Yeah let's get going, I have a fight to get to soon," Kenpachi lowered his feet, leaning across the table to look at Ichigo, "Wanna come with me?"

"Now, now this isn't the time for challenges and death threats Kenpachi," Urahara's voice caused the man to sit back in his chair once more. "And since Kenpachi is as eager as always we will start with you."

"Start what?"

"Introductions," Urahara said. "But don't worry, you just have to sit there. I'll do all the talking."

"Fine with me, just don't forget about my fight."

"And with that in mind, I'll begin," Urahara pointed to Kenpachi but looked to Ichigo. "Name, Zaraki Kenpachi, he's from Transylvania, if you'd believe it. And since he works here you can assume there is something rather unique about him. His qualifying trait, he's a werewolf."

Ichigo was so caught off guard by the serious nature of the situation that when he heard these words, he wasn't able to stop himself from snorting aloud. It became deathly silent (literally) and all eyes in the room turned in Kenpachi's direction. There was a slight crazed look in the man's visible eye, "You find me funny?"

Looking about for help, Ichigo unconsciously reached for the hilt of his sword again, "No, but you're not really a werewolf are you? Those are just those half man beasts from old fables that go on killing sprees when the moon is full. They can't possibly exist."

"You are as dumb as you look," Kenpachi actually seemed pleased by this. "You want to come outside with me and see just how non-existent I am?"

Urahara's slight cough brought everyone's attention back to himself. "That will be quite enough. We will all have time to haze and kick the ass of the new shinigami later. For now we just need to do a little who's who. Ichigo," Urahara pressed his pointer finger to the side of his own head, "I need you to take all your pre-conceived stereotypes about mythical creatures and forget them all. You'll find that they will no longer be of use to you here."

Ichigo mutely nodded and across the table from him, with a disgruntled huff, Kenpachi put his feet back up on the table. "Kenpachi is a werewolf," Urahara said once more. "No, he isn't a crazed killing machine when he transforms. He can actually control his werewolf form, so we don't have to wait until the full moon for it to happen."

"Pleasure," Kenpachi grinned and Ichigo noticed that the man's teeth did indeed look rather sharp.

"Next, we have Kuna Mashiro," Urahara pointed to the green haired woman by Zaraki's side. "This is Kenpachi's partner, and our lovely lady here is a dryad."

Ichigo's brow furrowed, he was sure he knew what a dryad was, but the information seemed to be just out of his field of conscious thought at the moment. Still in his original vein of thought, Urahara said, "Kenpachi and Mashiro also have a little elf, like Ririn, that tags along with them, but you'll meet her later."

"I'd wear a helmet when you meet her if I were you," Kenpachi said, his attentions back on his knife.

"Why?"

"Now let's keep this moving along and introduce the person sitting on your right side," Urahara obviously felt it unnecessary to answer Ichigo's question as he had all his questions. "Ichigo, meet Hirako Shinji." Ichigo's informant from earlier grinned, "The Psotnick, his specialty, mischief maker, country of origin, Poland."

Ichigo knew, with certainty, that he had never heard of the Psotnick before, but as he now attached a name to the face, he could tell, just from his mannerism, that the man was skilled in the practice of deception. The blond haired man shook Ichigo's hand, "Pleasure to meet you death god."

The woman on Shinji's right, leaned forward in her seat, looking at Ichigo, "Don't ever eat anything he gives you."

"And this is Soi Fon," Urahara said. "The second part of the pair." Soi Fon waved once, before sitting back in her seat. She was one of the smallest one of the group, but something about her was as intimidating as Kenpachi. The majority of her hair was cut short at the level of her chin, all for except two long braids that extended down from the back of her head. Urahara resumed his thread of speech, "Soi Fon here is the grand daughter of the Fujin, the God of Wind from Japan, so, she thusly has the power to control the wind."

"Is she a god too then?" Ichigo be-awed by the mere idea of being in the same room as a god, or rather goddess.

"Well technically yes, she is a goddess, but they aren't as all powerful and rare as you think. There's also a god that controls the Wind that resides in China, one in Africa and one in America somewhere," Urahara smirked and Soi Fon scowled. "Plus, Soi Fon is third generation so her powers aren't as _all_ _powerful_."

But still, first werewolves now goddesses? Just how exactly did Urahara find these people?

"Next let's have Rangiku," Urahara said, pointing to the person sitting at the other end of the table, opposite himself.

The woman waved a hand at Ichigo, winking. She brushed her long, ginger-colored wavy hair back over her shoulder, "Charmed to meet you Ichigo." Charmed? Yes that seemed to describe her exactly, something about her was indeed charismatic and appealing.

"Rangiku is an enchantress, sorceress or witch if you will," Urahara's words provided an explanation to the woman's magnetic-like aura. "Yes, that is not her actual appearance, no one actually knows what she looks like. She can perform all sorts of magic, no she doesn't have a wand but she has a spell book, don't touch it unless you want to die and yes, she can fly on a broomstick."

Ichigo felt as if he should doubt some of this but wasn't about to ask and be made out to seem like an even bigger fool. Maybe this was a new person initiation joke. "Ok, nice to meet you Matsumoto," he nodded to her, making a mental reminder to never ask her for a ride.

"And lastly, here we have Rangiku's partner, Hitsugaya Toshiro," Urahara said in indication to the boy sitting on Ichigo's proximal left. "Like Ririn, he is a lot, lot older than he appears. Toshiro here is, most likely, a creature you have heard of before," he let the sentence linger, looking up to Ichigo, "Care to hazard any guesses?"

The boy's hair was spiked, pushed out of his face and the color of pure ivory. His skin, a pale alabaster white, his eyes the color of the waters of the sea but there was nothing that Ichigo could decipher as in indicator of mystical qualities. "I don't even think I can attempt a guess," was his reply. Kenpachi scoffed, Rangiku pouted and Hitsugaya gave Ichigo a look that clearly said it was a good thing he hadn't decided to guess because if he had been wrong, there would have been hell to pay.

"No fun," Urahara's feigned disappointment was short lived, "I was hoping you would've guessed elf, that always provokes some amusing reactions." Hitsugaya growled and Urahara nervously moved past his joke, "Toshiro, well he is our lovely, little vampire."

Trying to not make it obvious, Ichigo's let his eyes wander down to the boy's mouth. A slight frown but Toshiro actually let his lips curl up, revealing his perfectly straight, white teeth, "My fangs are only out when I choose to bite something," he let his mouth close once more, "Or someone."

"Sorry, just new to all this ya know," Ichigo mumbled.

"Toshiro is from the United States," Urahara said, "Alaska to be exact. Being a vampire, he has abnormal speed, strength and as you can see, physical characteristics. He can go out in the sunlight without burning to a crisp, but sun bathing isn't a particular hobby of his. And don't even bother asking because the answer is no, he can't turn into a bat, he can only sic them on people."

Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes flashed in menace at Urahara who was pointedly looking in the opposite direction. "So now Ichigo," Urahara said, drawing everyone's attention onto the orange haired man. "What do you think of your new team?"

What did he think? What did he think?! Well mostly that he himself had somehow gone insane but there was also that maybe all these people were insane but he wasn't about to tell them that. "You all seem to be … interesting."

"Yay, we're interesting!" a voice said from beneath the table causing Ichigo to jump so badly that he tipped backwards in his chair, landing with a crash.

A few laughs at Ichigo's expense, and Hitsugaya reached down a hand, pulling Ichigo back to his feet. As the shinigami righted his chair and sat back down, he saw the source of the voice that had come from beneath the table. A very small, pink haired girl appeared, practically crawling up Kenpachi's arm to rest on his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you Ichi-saki," she grinned.

And where had he heard that nickname before? "Err you too," Ichigo ruffled a hand through his hair. "Are you my partner?"

Kenpachi actually laughed at this, "No, this little one here is Yachiru, the sidehe we were telling you about earlier that usually tags along with me and Mashiro."

"Ichi-saki, do you have any candy?" Yachiru asked, squashing her hand onto Kenpachi's face and not even caring.

"No," Ichigo wasn't aware that he should have candy in the first place. "Sorry?"

"You don't? Fine then I won't tell you where your partner is."

Urahara looked up with interest at this, "You know where the Yuki-Onna is?"

"The Yuki-Onna?" Ichigo repeated.

"Yep," Yachiru nodded, "I saw her."

The attitude of the room had become rather subdued, and the threat hung in the air that Ichigo really should not inquire into this matter.

"Ichigo, your partner is the Yuki-Onna," Urahara finally said. "The snow woman from Japan, as cold as her name implies. But the reason she isn't here is because she's actually gone, not even here at HQ at the moment. After her old partner died, she returned home and has yet to return."

The Yuki-onna, that was a legend that Ichigo had heard of. The spirit of a woman that died in a snow storm, indescribably and ineradicably beautiful, and impossible to capture. Clad in a white kimono and with skin almost as pale as the snow that surrounds her, the only color comes from her tenebrous, ebony hair and the crimson stain of her lips. It's said she is hostile and tranquil, twin sides of a personality as varied as the snow itself. She can trap and ensnare the souls foolish enough to become lost in her snow but at the same time, by her own choosing, can let these souls go. The contradiction of the pure white serenity of a fresh snowfall and the tremulous chaos that comes with a snow storm.

"There is no need to scare him even before he meets me," came a voice from the doorway. "I can scare him off myself." Hair darker than black and skin almost as pale as the white of the clothes she was clad in, a slender woman stood in front of the double doors, her arms crossed and a frown upon her brow as she met Ichigo's eyes. "Nice to meet you shinigami, I am the Yuki-Onna, Kuchiki Rukia."

--

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* * *

*

_Sidehe (Irish) - elf  
Ogma (Irish) - Scholar  
Nyx (goddess of night)  
Okhwangsangje (Korean) - deity  
Jengu (Africa) - water spirit  
Yosei (Japanese) - fairie  
Raijin (Japanese) - god of Thunder  
Furies (Greek)  
Dís (Norse) - deity  
Oracle (greek) - future seer  
Mamaragan (Australian) - Thunder god_

_Werewolf (Transylvania) - Kenpachi Zaraki  
Dryad - Mashiro_

_Psotnik (Polish) - mischief-maker - Hirako Shinji  
Fujin (Japan) - God of Wind - Soi Fon_

_Witch/Enchantress - Rangiku  
Vampire - Hitsugaya_

_Yuki-onna (Japan) - snow woman - Rukia Kuchiki  
Shinigami - Ichigo_

_I am not a hundred percent on the whole spelling and myth behind all the above listed mystical beings. Some of them though, the ones that are more open to interpretation I have adjusted according to my personal tastes_

_Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Suggestions? Want a certain character in the story that hasn't been mentioned yet? And want them to be a certain supernatural being?_

_The people that are going to be in this story but just haven't been mentioned include:  
Uryuu, Renji, the Espada, Gin, Aizen, Tousen, Momo, Nemu. _


End file.
